Rouvanjit case: Abetment to suicide charge upheld

A city court on Monday upheld the
order for trial of the principal and three other teachers of
La Martiniere for Boys School on charges of abetment to
suicide in the case of Rouvanjit Rawla, who killed himself
allegedly after being caned at the school.

Kolkata: A city court on Monday upheld the
order for trial of the principal and three other teachers of
La Martiniere for Boys School on charges of abetment to
suicide in the case of Rouvanjit Rawla, who killed himself
allegedly after being caned at the school.

13-year-old Rouvanjit had been found hanging at his
residence on February 12, last year, four days after being
allegedly caned by Principal Sunirmal Chakravarti for
misbehaviour and disobedience.

The chief judge, city civil court, Kolkata, Dipak Saha
Roy, rejected the prayer of the four teachers and upheld the
order of a metropolitan judge to try them under more serious
charges than those earlier framed by the police.

Claiming that the 12th Metropolitan Judge of Bankshall
Court had no jurisdiction to reframe charges, the teachers had
sought quashing of his order before the court of judge Saha
Roy.

The magistrate had on November 19 ordered that the
four be tried under Section 305 (abetment to suicide of a
child), Section 324 (voluntarily causing hurt) and Section 34
(common intention) of IPC. Section 305, if proved, can invite
the death sentence.

The petitioners claimed that there was no material in
accusing them of abetting Rouvanjit`s suicide.

It was further claimed that the metropolitan judge had
not given them any hearing before reframing the charges on a
plea by the counsels of Ajay Rawla, father of Rouvanjit, who
claimed that the police had watered down charges against the
teachers.

Principal Sunirmal Chakravarti and the three teachers
- Garnian, Partho Dutta and David Raun - had been arrested on
October four, 2010 for the suicide of the Class VII student,
but were given bail on the same day by the chief metropolitan
magistrate as all the Sections of IPC they were charged
under were bailable.

The case had been filed by Ajay Rawla under Section
305 (abetment to suicide of a minor) of IPC, but the police
had filed lesser charges under Sections 323 and 324
(punishment for voluntarily causing hurt), 352 (punishment
without grave provocation) and 23 of the Juvenile Justice
(negligence of duty).

Ajay Rawla had filed a police complaint at the
Shakespeare Sarani police station here four months after the
incident.